Hyundai Cancer Institute

Selecting where a child will receive cancer treatment is one of the biggest decisions a caregiver can make. The Hyundai Cancer Institute at CHOC Children’s specializes in providing patients—from infants through young adults—with the latest pediatric cancer treatments by nationally recognized medical specialists. We are dedicated to not only treating cancer, but also the needs of the whole child—emotional, spiritual, and physical. Children simply shouldn’t have to give up being kids while dealing with the grown-up issue of cancer.

In 2014, Children’s Hospital of Orange County was ranked in seven specialties in U.S. News Media Group’s Best Children’s Hospitals rankings. Among the 183 U.S. children’s hospitals surveyed, the Hyundai Cancer Institute at CHOC Children’s ranked 38th in cancer treatment.

Just because we're a children's hospital, that doesn't mean we only treat little kids. Learn about the Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Treatment Program.

Children’s cancers are very different than adult cancers and must be treated with specific pediatric cancer protocols. Learn about our clinical trials.

Our experts are conducting cutting-edge genomic research to better understand cancers that occur in children and teenagers.

The Hyundai Cancer Institute’s Team Approach

We believe in a team approach to providing treatment to our patients that includes a multidisciplinary team of physicians and specialists and the patient’s family. We understand that a cancer diagnosis touches the lives of the entire family and for this reason are dedicated to a family-centered approach to care that includes immediately pairing patients and their families with a pediatric oncology nurse coordinator who serves as an advocate for the child and family throughout the patient’s course of treatment. Learn more about what to expect right from the start.

The Latest Treatments and Research

Children’s cancers are very different than adult cancers and must be treated with specific pediatric cancer protocols. Our experience in exclusively treating children, teens and young adults makes us the experts in the evaluation and treatment of all forms of common childhood and adolescent cancers. Through our Children’s Oncology Group (COG) membership, the Cancer Institute has received a prestigious Phase I clinical trial designation, making us one of only 21 facilities in North America and the only hospital in the Southwestern United States offering COG’s groundbreaking alternative treatments.

Support Programs and Services

When a child is ill and needs hospitalization, we understand that the entire family is affected. Because we so strongly believe in allowing a child to be a child and creating a sense of normalcy through play, discovery and creativity, we are dedicated to offering the most comprehensive support programs in the region. The Cancer Institute offers patients and families:

World-class Care

Our physicians and other health care professionals are all specially trained to work with pediatric oncology patients. In addition to the treatment programs, services, and programs above, the Cancer Institute is proud to offer patients:

Hyundai and CHOC Children’s: Partners in advancing the future of pediatric cancer treatment.

For more than a decade, the cure rate for pediatric cancer has been stalled at about 80 percent. A multidisciplinary team of specialists at the Hyundai Cancer Institute at CHOC Children’s is working to find cures for the other 20 percent—and won’t stop until they do. Thanks to a gift in 2011 of $10 million from Hyundai Motor America, the largest corporate gift in CHOC’s history, Leonard Sender, M.D., medical director of the Cancer Institute, and his team are conducting cutting-edge genomic research to better understand cancers that occur in children and teenagers. In this video, Dr. Sender talks about the innovate treatments available at the Cancer Institute.

Learn more about the Hyundai Cancer Institute difference.

Learn what to look for in a cancer treatment center.

Get answers to frequently asked questions about cancer.

Meet Dr. Sender, Medical Director of the Cancer Institute

Featured Stories

Orange County is one of the sunniest places in California, with hundreds of sun days per year. With that comes the need for protection. Improper protection can increase risk for skin cancer. Learn more in this health feature on kids and melanoma.

For more than a decade, the cure rate for pediatric cancer has been stalled at about 80 percent. A multidisciplinary team of specialists at the Hyundai Cancer Institute is working to find cures for the other 20 percent—and won’t stop until they do.

Physicians at the Cancer Institute are immersed in such cutting-edge research as molecular and genetic profiling to find out what triggers rare diseases like JXG—and what can be done to cure them.

The CHOC Children’s Infusionarium is the first program of its kind to combine immersive video technology with life-saving infusion therapy, such as chemotherapy or IV antibiotics.

Make An Appointment

The Hyundai Cancer Institute at CHOC Children’s is dedicated to providing compassionate family-centered care. The clinic staff is available to make appointments for current patients, families seeking an initial diagnosis or a second opinion Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. until 4:30p.m. The clinic is closed for lunch from noon until 1p.m.New patients should be prepared to bring the patient’s medical records to the appointment.

Call (714) 509-8636 for a timely appointment with one of our specialists.

Current patients who need a same day appointment should also call (714) 509-8636. The clinic is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and is closed for lunch from noon until 1 p.m. Calls received during the lunch break will go to voice mail. If the child is ill, please be certain to go to the “isolation waiting room.”

Virtual Tour

Take a virtual tour of the Hyundai Cancer Institute in the new Bill Holmes tower, which provides a truly healing environment for our patients and families, plus a host of family amenities to make everyone feel at home. Our all-new, oncology unit in the Bill Holmes Tower is home to 28 private beds, play rooms, a private gym and other spaces created especially for our oncology patients and their families.